Mount for guns



May 15, 192s. 1,669,662

S. G. GREEN ET AL MOUNT FOR GUNS Filed Dec/1.1, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l atto: um,

May 15, 1928. 1,669,662

S. G. GREEN ET AL MOUNT FOR GUNS Filed Dec. 1l. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E E ErEEm IL HatchEr atto: nu,

Patent ay is, isz.

.srATEs SAMUEL G. GREEN, F GRAY, GEOB'GIA, AND JAMES L. HATCHEB, 0F THE UNITED f STATES ARMY, WASHINGTON, DISTRICT 0F COLUMBIA.

i MOUNT ron GUNS.

Appiicatign mea December-i1, 1926. serial N0.5154,2ee.

(GRANTED UNDER J3EE PROFISIUNS 0F TEE ACT 0F MARGH 8, 1883, 22 STAT. L., 625.)

The invention described herein may be used bythe Government, or any of its oflif The subject of this invention is a mount for guns. l

l In employing .anti-aircraft' re at the lower altitudes which are in the zone of the automatic type of weapons the target-passes very rapidly and during the brief period in which it is in range a maximum fire must i be delivered. In ordertliat such fire may be 'accurately directed it is essential that the mount be of suchnature as to provide stabililty while permitting rapid maneuvering.Q

While an elementary solution for obtainl ing a' large volum'eof fire consists in massing guns, the multiple gun mounts heretofore provided areall lacklng either in stability or facility of control and direction.

The multiple gun mount of the present ilinvention provides for stability by mounting the guns forwardly of the cradle trunnions and by positioning the trunnions in the plane of the bores of the guns; it rovides for accuracy in tracking and y rapidity in maneuveringr by permittin an arrangement of the sighting `systems w ereby the gun pointers may function from an unchanging position. i

A novel firing mechanism. by means of i which the guns may be fired independently or as a unit and a novel manner of angular-ly diverging the guns with respect to each other are also features ot this invention.

With the foregoing and other objects .in

i view, my invention resides in the novel arrangement and combinationof parts and in the details of construction hereinafter de'- scribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the i invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope' of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention. v l

A practical embodiment of the invention D is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

- Fig.` 1 'is a view in side elevation of a gun mount constructed'in accordance with the invention;

which is rotatably mounted for all around traverse a top carriage 7 for which actuating mechanism 8 is provided. The top carriage is formed with a pair of enlarged bearings 9 receiving a trunnion10 on which is mounted a cradle 11 consisting of a relatively thin Hat plate having at its rear end a counter- Weight 12. The cradle is moved in elevation about the trunnion by means 'of a worm 13 yactuating the wormwheel segment 14 fixed to the cradle.

The cradle is arranged and dimensioned to carry fourvstandard caliber .50 machine guns evenly distributed across the cradle and all attached in a similar manner. In order that the guns may bemoved vertically and laterally with respect to each other to vary the cone of fire, the attaching means consists'of anv adjustable trunnion cradle comprising a socket member 15 threaded in a tubular extension 16 fixed to the guncradle 11. The. socket member 15 receives the tapered stem. 17 of a yoke 18 which is held in adjusted position. by means of a nut 19 threaded on the lower end of the stem and loosened when it is desired to elevate the socket member without rotating the yoke. In order that the gun to be mounted may receive additional lateral displacement irrespective of theladjustment appliedto the yoke the trunnion pin 2O which passes through and supports the gun is embraced by set screws 21 threaded in the yoke arms and contacting tlie gun whereby to move and hold it in place on the trunnion pin. v

The rear attaching means comprises a saddle 22 which receives the pin 23 inserted through the lugs 24 on the gun. The saddle is supported on a pair of brackets 25 bein secured by screws 26 which ass throng elongated slot-s 27. The' sad( le is spaced from the `cradleto enable it to be shifted in conforming to the lateral' adjustment of the trunnion cradle. The attaching means are so arranged that the guns when in place are entirely forward of thecradle trunnion 10 andthe plane containing the centers of bore of the guns intersects the trunnion at all positions of elevation. v

At one side of each of the positions occupied by the guns the cradle is formed with large openings 28 adjacent each of which are` provided latches 29.011 the under side for the purpose of retaining a magazine 30. l

The trigger mechanism 3l of the standard .50 caliber machine gun is ot the thumb pressed type Which is moved downwardly to release the firing pin. The particular tiring mechanism which is provided'tov operate the triggers 31 consist of a number of concentric tubes 32 mounted in brackets between the cradle trunnion and the'rcar ot' the guns and of a numbercorresponding to the number of guns. The outermost tube terminates adjacent the right hand gun, the innermost tube extends. over to the left hand gun and the intermediate tubes terminate opposite the intermediate guns. Each tube carries at its extremity a firing, arm or hammer 34 which acts to depress the trigger 31 on rotation of the tube. Thev actuatingsmechanism for rotating each of the tubes vconsists of the handles 35 .which are preferably of dilerent lengths to facilitate their selection. vIn order that the group of guns may be fired as a unit a pin 36 maybe inserted through alin- -ing apertures in all of the tubes to cause f them to be rotated together.

The gun pointers who operate the traversing mechanism 8 and the elevating mechamsm 13-14 respectively sight through the .azimuth sighting system 37 on Whichlateral deiection corrections are applied and measured on the scale 38 and through the elevation sighting system 39 on' Awhich vertical defiection corrections are applied and measured on the scale 40. .The arrangement of the entire mount is such that the rear sights may be in a relatively unchanging position, one being mounted at the trunnion 10 and the other bearing a corresponding relation through the links 41 and 42.

We claim:

1. A mount for guns embodying a base, a carriage mounted in the base for all around traverse, a cradle trunnioned in the carriage, means on the cradle for mounting a plurality vof machine guns forwardly of the trunnion and in such position that the plane containing-the centers of bore of all the guns will intersect the trunnion, means for counterbalancing th-e cradle, an elevating segment fixed to the cradle, means for actuating said segment and a sighting system mounted for mov-ement with the cradle and having its rear end at a fixed vpoint corresponding te the trunnion.

2. A mount for guns lembodying a base, a carriage mounted in the base for all round traverse, a cradle trunnioned in the carriage, means on the cradle for mounting a plurality of machine guns forwardly of the trunion and insuch position that the plane .containing the centers of bore of Aall the guns will Aintersect the trunnion, means for counter-balancing the cradle, an elevating segment fixed to the cradle, and means t'or actuating said segment.

3. A mount for machine guns embodying a carriage lnounted for all around traverse, a cradle .trunnioned in the carriage, means on the cradle for mounting a plurality of machine guns forwardly of the trunnion and in such position that the plane containing the centers of bore of all the guns will intersect the trunnion and means for counterbalancing the-cradle.

1l. In combination a cradle, a plurality1 ofV machine guns mounted in parallel relation- .ship thereon, a liring mechanism including concentric tubes corresponding in number to the guns and one tube terminating adjacent each gun, a firing arm at such extremity, means whereby the tubes magyv be rotated independently and means for grouping the tubes to operate as a unit.

.5. An adjustable trunnion cradle embodying a support, a socket member threadable in the support, a yoke having a tapered stem inserted in said member, means for securing selecti vely' the stem in place, the trunnion pin passing i through the arms of the yoke and a set screw threaded in each arm and embracing the pin.

6. An adjustable trunnion cradle embodying a support, a socket member threadable in the support, a yoke having a stem inserted in said member, means for securing the stem in place, a trunnion pin passing through the arms of the yoke anda set screw threaded in each arm.

SAMUEL G. GREEN. JAMES L. HATCHER. 

